


Understanding Eren

by tomcollins



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Schizophrenia, Writers, writer!levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-02-17
Packaged: 2018-01-12 19:54:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1197411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomcollins/pseuds/tomcollins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Levi stared at his laptop, a blank word document facing him. His backspace was warmer than any other key on his keyboard. So this is what they called writers block? "</p>
<p>Levi is a writer, Eren is different, different enough to cure Levi's writers block, but will the truth about him make it hard for Levi to cope?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Understanding Eren

Levi stared at his laptop, a blank word document facing him. His backspace was warmer than any other key on his keyboard. So this is what they called writers block? It was an interesting feeling, something Levi hadn’t experienced before. But then again, he was an amateur. Never in his life had Levi had something published, did that mean he wasn’t good? Not at all. It meant he was weak. Too weak to let a piece of his writing be viewed by the public. It wasn’t emotional weakness, or physical weakness, it was a weakness that stuck in the back of his mind. It was the fear of judgment; one he would never let anyone see. Levi held in the backspace once again. This piece, this story, wasn’t going to be autobiographical. Levi cursed under his breath. Weren’t internet café’s meant to help in the creative process. Levi had come here to perhaps be inspired by the enticing yet bitter aroma of the coffee. All Levi smelt in the coffee was romance. Not what he was looking for. No way in hell was he writing a romantic novel. He sighed and looked around a bit. Just like him, many people were tapping away on their laptops, drinking from white mugs, circles hanging from their blank eyes. These writers… Levi could tell they weren’t like him. They were probably majors straight out of college, or 40 year old men who are yet to get a book deal. The atmosphere here… it was quite busy…full of people chatting about their days, boyfriends, favourite movies. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a young couple, quite obviously on their first date. Levi cursed under his breath. Was there not one interesting person or thing in this place? Just one thing to strike his intrigue, a single prompt to start his mind. Of course what happened was expected, one of the biggest tropes in literary history, an event was about to happen that would make Levi utter the phrase “be careful what you wished for”. At this point in time we are less than 400 words into this narrative. Does make me a bad writer, rushing things? I’m of course breaking the fourth wall to drag it out even further than necessary. But it’s amazing how the pace of the story can be changed when a particular young man, trips over the leg of Levi’s table. Everything seemed to go in slow motion (of course it did, isn’t that what always happens?). The cloth of Levi’s table caught on the boy’s leg and was brought down, the entire table was moved away and both the cups of drinks, from both the table and the boy, and Levi’s laptop, came tumbling down. Hot drink fell into Levi’s lap and the laptop fell the opposite way. With a crash, a splash and a screech Levi was left in shock, staring at his broken laptop on the floor. Is there any extreme version of broken? Very broken? That’s what it was, very broken. The screen was smashed; the keys were spread across the floor, and if you think that coffee and computers are a good match you are wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.  
The boy in question, well, he sat on the floor crying. They weren’t pretty tears, like Levi would write if his laptop wrecked on the floor, they were, big, heaving sobs. Levi could sense panic and distress in his cry and wondered if he should help. He stood, observing the young boy, eighteen at most, as he cried like a child. He reached out a hand to help him, but jolted it back as a yell came from across the room.   
An angry looking man, quite short with a clean shaven, purple face, came wobbling towards the boy with speed that made no sense for someone of his stature. His chubby pointer finger shook as thundered forwards. Levi wanted to jump out of the way. Somehow, the angry man managed to stop and not plough into Levi. When he regained himself he began yelling at the young boy on the floor, who was still covered in coffee but had stopped sobbing. Every now and then the man would stop and apologise to Levi with the fakest smile you could imagine. Finally, he took the boy, who for some intriguing reason, had gone limp, by the collar and dragged him towards what seemed to be some sort of staff room. Levi stared at his laptop on the floor, his eyes occasionally flitting over the teacups that had smashed on the floor. He huffed, picking up his broken piece of equipment, shoving it clumsily into his bag. He had to walk home like this, a slightly brown stain over the front of his white jeans. It was uncomfortable. Levi considered the young boy. If he strained his ears he could hear a faint yelling, he guessed it was the man yelling about the boy. Would he get fired? Maybe, probably, the manager looked quite mad… the soon fell silent and with a sigh Levi picked up his bag and stormed out.   
Once he stopped to think about it, Levi found it perhaps a better idea to take the back road home. It would mean less people would see him with this disgusting stain on his front. It would take longer yes, and it did. As a Levi approached the playground, that marked ten more minutes until he got home, he thought he saw something. Probably a kid playing he decided. As he walked past he had to double take. Sitting on the swing, head up to the sky, was the boy from the café. He didn’t look at Levi as he passed, or stopped really. Levi looked around and approached him. As He drew closer the boy finally looked at him. His mouth still hung open lazily, but his head tilted to the side. His green eyes (yeah just green, Levi isn’t writing a romance novel remember) reflected the light.   
“Do you want to use the swing?” he asked.  
Levi furrowed his brow.  
“You ruined my clothes and broke my laptop” Levi stated.   
The boy sung his legs a little, his brow furrowed.  
“I don’t remember…” he said.  
This dumfounded Levi. Hadn’t it only been half an hour? As he observed the boy he picked something up. The boy was constantly looking around, look changing from intrigued to concentrated. There was something not right with this boy. It intrigued Levi and he was overwhelmed with a sudden urge to write.   
“What’s your name kid?” he asked.  
The boy considered, like he was really thinking about it.  
“Eren!” he spouted when he finally got it.  
Eren… Eren he was just like a little kid, I mean he obviously still wasn’t an adult but he seemed much younger than he was.  
“The boss” Eren paused “he fired me…”   
Levi looked at him. Where had that come from?  
“Hm?” he questioned.  
“Mr, I don’t think I can pay!” He urged.   
Eren was quite obviously getting distressed by this and Levi held out a hand to calm him.  
“Pay what?” He asked Eren.  
Eren stopped for a moment, frowning.  
“…my rent!” he said, voice cracking.  
Levi stared at Eren for a few moments and sighed, reaching into his wallet and handing Eren a $100 note.   
“See you kid.” He breathed.  
Levi began to walk off and heard the swing creak and footsteps behind him. Levi walked for a few minutes and turned on his heels. Eren tried to stop himself, but crashed into Levi.   
“What are you doing?” Levi asked.  
“You told me to follow you!” Eren said.  
Levi frowned.  
“No I didn’t…”   
“Yeah you said ‘follow me to my house’ so I am and you keep saying ‘you still there?’” He explained, looking at Levi as if he was an idiot.  
Levi turned and started walking again.  
“You’re not following me home…” he huffed.  
“But you said!” Eren whined.  
Levi sighed and looked over his shoulder.  
“Isn’t this kidnapping?”  
Eren frowned and stamped his foot.   
“I’m not a kid! I’m… 18” he said.   
Levi knew he shouldn’t let the kid follow him home but then again, he wanted to write about Eren.  
“Whatever…” Levi sighed.  
He continued walking, Eren trailing behind.  
When they got to Levi’s apartment Eren looked around and sat on the floor. Levi quirked an eyebrow at him but let it go. He should probably set up some sort of bed for him. He walked around the apartment, collecting blankets and pillows. He set them up next to his own bed and called for Eren. Eren nodded and hopped into the makeshift bed without protest. Levi changed and hopped into his own. He would write tomorrow. Before he fell asleep Eren spoke from beside him.  
“Mr… I don’t know your name”  
Levi looked to him.  
“It’s Levi…”  
All Eren said in reply was “oh”.  
For the three days Levi observed Eren’s behaviour. He would often have odd responses to things, breaking down a lot. He also seemed to trail off in thought, or stop in the middle of sentences. But the oddest thing Levi experienced was when Eren would answer questions Levi never asked, or say he said something he didn’t. Either way, this boy was like no other. Levi soon found himself writing nonstop. Eren often stood behind Levi and asked him why his name was on the screen. Levi replied that he was reading it wrong, Eren seemed to believe it. Because his laptop was broken, Levi could only write at home, it limited him yes, but he felt it better. Eren often disappeared for a few hours, only to come back with a sunburnt face and a sloppy grin. Levi would sigh and direct him to his bath.  
Considering how much of a clean freak Levi was, He was so engrossed in writing, he only noticed the mess at about the one week mark. His apartment was trashed. Rubbish and clothes (only Levi’s since Eren only had one pair) were all over the floor. His makeshift bed more resembled a nest now. Levi sighed and began cleaning. During this time Eren was coincidently out. He didn’t come back until Levi was done. When he did come back, the condition of the apartment led Levi to realise just how unkempt Eren was. The shirt Levi had let him borrow was crinkled and dirty, a little torn as well. His hair was greasy and stood up everywhere. His face was grotty and plastered across his nose was a single Band-Aid. Levi sighed.  
“Eren have you been bathing properly?” He asked.  
Eren huffed and crossed his arms.  
“Yeah”  
“Don’t lie Eren” Levi growled.  
Eren lowered his head.  
“No Mr Levi I haven’t…” He admitted.  
Levi grabbed his arm and took him towards the bath. He stood watch as Eren bathed himself, making sure he cleaned properly and washed his hair. When he got out Levi passed Eren some fresh clothes that were probably too small on him. Once he was done Levi gestured for Eren to sit down.  
“Eren… You can’t let yourself get all gross like that.” He explained.  
Eren ignored him and tucked himself into his bed.  
It had been four weeks; Eren had been living with Levi for five weeks. Levi had been working on his book for five weeks. It was strange, how a change that came so sudden seemed so normal now. Levi needed to add more to his story though, with the normalisation of all this, came a lack of things to write about. Levi knew what to do. He and Eren sat at his kitchen table, eating breakfast.  
“Eren…” Levi started. “Tell me about what’s going on…”   
Eren was usually slow with these things but he instantly got what Levi meant. Levi knew it too as an immense sadness filled Eren’s eyes.  
“When I turned… fifteen maybe… everything became hard…” He began.   
Yes, this was the conversation Levi wanted to have. He needed to know how Eren felt, if he knew. But he was almost scared to hear it.  
“I can’t cope… everything goes slow… and words don’t work good… everything makes me upset like when I dropped my bowl yesterday...”  
Levi recalled this… Eren had broken down once again.  
“I also can hear better than anyone! I hear people they can’t and things too… no one can hear them… I don’t want to do anything sometimes… I don’t want to clean… it frustrates me…” Eren gripped his head.  
Levi watched as Eren broke down into tears and tried to hush the young boy. He ended up petting him on the head. Eren looked up and sniffed.  
“Mr Levi you are so kind.”  
Levi didn’t think so… He was cynical, an ass… he didn’t care for-  
Levi’s thoughts were cut off when Eren’s lips touched his own. This wasn’t what he wanted, nor expected. Yet he stayed still and let the boy release whatever it was he needed too. He found himself describing Eren’s lips, chapped and sun damaged, a little too forceful, and uneducated. He would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it. The feelings were quite mixed. Eren… goddamn it that boy. At least now He has more to write about. 

Six weeks. Levi only had his ending to write. Nothing had happened since that time at the kitchen table. Eren never tried to kiss him again, and acted as though it never happened. As a writer, Levi found himself over complicating the ordeal in his head, He would think of Eren’s motives. Did Eren love him? He also thought quite a bit about how he felt. Did he develop feelings for this boy who obviously had a problem? It was wrong, he knew it. But Levi couldn’t stop thinking about it.  
A few days later (Levi had still not finished his book) there was a rap at his door. He looked about and saw Eren watching his TV… He got up and wondered curiously to the door. He opened it and was confronted by a man with dark skin and no hair. He was wearing a black suit and looked straight past Levi (rude seeing as he wasn’t that short… was he?).  
“I understand that you have been housing Eren Jaeger” The man stated simply.  
Levi frowned.  
“Yes… we met and he decided to stay here” Levi replied.  
It wasn’t a lie, that’s exactly what happened, just leaving out a few things. The mansface turned stern.  
“Sir, how much do you know about Mr Jaeger.”  
Levi ended up inviting the man inside. They talked for a while, mostly Levi explaining everything and what he knew. When he came towards the end of the story the man (whose name was Alex) cut him off.  
“Sir did you realise that Mr Jaeger has Schizophrenia?” Alex asked.  
Levi froze. Schizophrenia? That explained quite a lot… but how had not realised.   
“I’m sorry but I have to take Eren with me” Alex said, softer this time.  
Levi gulped and nodded. Why did his stomach drop? His heart wrench? His head fill with many thoughts he couldn’t control? Eren? He wouldn’t see Eren anymore? Levi silently begged for this to not be real, for Eren to not be wordlessly following the man out. Levi didn’t notice that he sat staring out the still open door, many hours after Eren left. He knew now, he knew how he would finish the story.

It had been 10 months since Levi had finished his book. He had presented the manuscript onto a publisher’s desk, holding back his tears. How had he gotten so weak? No, this book was personal. It was soon accepted and Levi went through the works. Months of meetings, months of editing. Finally he stood before the books on the shelves, hardcover and fresh. The art had been done by an acquaintance from a while ago, who went by the name of Mr Armin Arlet. It was true to the book.  
There he stood for quite a long time. He heard someone stand next to him but he ignored it.  
“Haha, My name is on the cover!” The person spoke next to him.  
Levi froze. He turned and looked up to see an unmistakeable figure next to him.  
“Eren?” He gasped, his mouth agape.  
Eren turned and grinned.  
“We going home Mr Levi?” He asked.  
Levi nodded and turned, shoving his hands in his pockets.  
“Yeah” he cracked.  
They both started walking, leaving behind the shelf full of books titled “Understanding Eren”.

**Author's Note:**

> Fourth wall breaking like WHAAAATTT  
> Hope it didn't put you off


End file.
